Durban - An off-duty policeman shot and killed a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend before turning the gun on himself in a retail store at Westville’s Pavilion Shopping Centre on Thursday.
Police spokesman Thulani Zwane said the constable had been stationed at KwaMashu. The woman is said to have been an assistant at the shop who was working when the incident happened.
It was unclear if there were any customers in the shop at the time.
The Pavilion management said: “It appears to be a case of a domestic dispute between a husband and wife. Unfortunately, we cannot disclose further details.”
According to witnesses, who asked not to be named, the drama unfolded at about 12.30pm when a man, accompanied by a person believed to be a friend, walked into women’s clothing shop, Sissy Boy.
The shooting plunged the section of the mall into chaos, with people screaming and running.
One witness, an assistant at a shop next door, said the “friend” stood outside the shop while the gunman walked in.
He heard two shots and a woman scream. The screams were those of the murdered woman’s colleague.
“There were two people in the shop, both assistants, one of them the murdered woman. I heard two gunshots and saw this woman come running out screaming.
“This guy came out and went back in again. A short while later, I heard two more gunshots – I think that was when he turned the gun on himself,” he said.
A passer-by said she was in a shop next to the store when she heard two gunshots.
“The man then shot himself, but was not dead when I left,” she said. Part of the mall next to the shop was closed by security and they were told to move away, she said.
“I was at Jet (store), which is only a shop away from Sissy Boy. I was shocked… I didn’t know what to do, because I thought, ‘What if the shooter comes to where I am?’”
Part of the shopping centre was cordoned off for a few hours as police and forensic experts combed the scene.
Frustrated friends and family, some crying hysterically, waited anxiously behind the erected barrier and cordon tape as police awaited the morgue van, which took the bodies away about five hours later.
Zwane said police had opened an inquest docket and Westville SAPS would investigate.
It was believed the shooting happened after the two had had an argument.
The Mercury